Scot in US who killed mother and stepfather could face execution

Derek Connell, 29, could be executed for killing Kim Higginbotham and her husband, Christopher, bother of whom were 48.

The pair were found dead on April 30 by police.

Mr Connell is originally from Shawlands, Glasgow and confessed to the killings in court this week.

But his lawyer, Paul Cadman, said there was a lack of evidence suggesting the killings were premeditated or induced by malice – arguing Mr Connell should be tried for either voluntary manslaughter or second-degree murder.

However, Judge Thomas C Clark of Kern County Superior Court refused this request, saying Mr Connell’s statements indicated “a fair amount” of planning and thought about his actions.

Mr Cadman said his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as well as drug addiction after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan with the US Army.

He said: “Derek is disappointed by the decision of the magistrate to continue this case as a death penalty case since the preliminary hearing showed clearly that he has no recollection of the events and certainly had no premeditation, deliberation, or malice aforethought regarding the incident.

“He believes he did it but he doesn’t know how.

“His heroic yet frightening experiences serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan and the subsequent substance abuse problems… that he was forced to deal with due to his horrific experiences remain directly responsible for the tragedy that has unfolded in this case.”

In an interview played to the court, Mr Connell said: “I had to have done it.

“There was no-one else in the house.”

He said that he had a good relationship with his mother and stepfather but that after going to bed on the night of the killings he could only recall finding their bodies. He had been drinking heavily that night.

Mr Connell was discharged from the US Army because of an incident involving alcohol. He found work on the oil fields in Texas and Colorado.

He was born in Rutherglen Maternity and lived in Shawlands as a child. His mother relocated the family to the US to be with her husband, who had been stationed in Scotland with the US Navy. She worked as a teacher for 16 years at an elementary school.